[BK]

Originally Posted by cycler2

I've very interested to hear about everyone's experience with independent service shops. I've read the NCC page about this, but I'd like to hear from you guys, as well.

I know I've posted this on e90post before, but if you haven't seen it, I found this listing with brief reviews: http://www.dvsmith.net/bmw/dc_service_shops.html

[Scottz71]

I just had my first service opportunity at Sterling this morning...they made me wait 90 minutes for a VA state inspection ONLY. Since I did SC delivery I had to get it inspected and I was the first car to Sterling at 6:40am, but did not get out of there until a little after 8AM. I drew Shawn as my SA, and while he was nice enough to have the tech throw on the locking lugs I bought at no charge, it shouldn't take 90 mins...?!?

Maybe it was a bad morning or something, but no one smiles there...everyone just seems stuck up to me. Just seems to me like everytime I am at the dealership, no one treats customers with respect. My salesperson was nice and all, but he's family w/ one of my best friends, and I had met him a few times out of work before I chose to even buy a BMW through him...everyone else has been very snooty at Sterling. They seem to treat you like you don't 'belong.'

[sstarch1]

Originally Posted by Scottz71

I just had my first service opportunity at Sterling this morning...they made me wait 90 minutes for a VA state inspection ONLY. Since I did SC delivery I had to get it inspected and I was the first car to Sterling at 6:40am, but did not get out of there until a little after 8AM. I drew Shawn as my SA, and while he was nice enough to have the tech throw on the locking lugs I bought at no charge, it shouldn't take 90 mins...?!?

Maybe it was a bad morning or something, but no one smiles there...everyone just seems stuck up to me. Just seems to me like everytime I am at the dealership, no one treats customers with respect. My salesperson was nice and all, but he's family w/ one of my best friends, and I had met him a few times out of work before I chose to even buy a BMW through him...everyone else has been very snooty at Sterling. They seem to treat you like you don't 'belong.'

Cant imagine how they might treat me being that im 22 yrs old. I always get some shitty treatment b/c of my age. They think that someone as young as me is too stupid to know any different, while they should realise that maybe i might be smarted than the average 22yr old, since i can afford such a car......ah but i digress.

[cycler2]

Originally Posted by BK

I know I've posted this on e90post before, but if you haven't seen it, I found this listing with brief reviews: http://www.dvsmith.net/bmw/dc_service_shops.html

Thanks, BK. Useful link.

Rich

[ase2dais]

yup! especially for me

[Grumpy514]

So how much did everyone get their 335i for at lets say

Passport/Sterling

Ive been visiting the fairfax dealership these past weeks but havnt gone anywhere else yet.

[HeadlessChicken]

I am getting my break-in oil change at 3200 miles tomorrow at Sterling. I requested Jim Eddy as recommended by an earlier poster. I will update this with my impressions. I would of course prefer to go back to Passport, but they are just too far away.

[yu]

I had been emailing Fairfax to make an appointment. I was told to drop my car off yesterday and they would work on it the next day and give me a rental. So I go in and tell them the email I got and they told me I had to make an appointment. All this takes 30 minutes. I was 30 minutes late for my lab and missed the quiz at the beginning of class. I guess I should have called instead of communicating through email, but I already do not like Fairfax. I guess I'll see how their service is when I take my car in Tuesday.

[PocketRocket]

Originally Posted by YuBimmer

I had been emailing Fairfax to make an appointment. I was told to drop my car off yesterday and they would work on it the next day and give me a rental. So I go in and tell them the email I got and they told me I had to make an appointment. All this takes 30 minutes. I was 30 minutes late for my lab and missed the quiz at the beginning of class. I guess I should have called instead of communicating through email, but I already do not like Fairfax. I guess I'll see how their service is when I take my car in Tuesday.

can you tell us the SA you went with and your experiences after

[Grumpy514]

So who has made the best deal around here dealership wise?

[ase2dais]

Originally Posted by Grumpy514

So who has made the best deal around here dealership wise?

if I did I wont tell

[Mr.F1 Fan]

Originally Posted by BK

The following "ranking" is completely worthless because I am not speaking from first-hand experience. However, this summarizes what I have read in many many many many (x1000) posts on various BMW forums about DC dealers. Best to worst for DC:

1 - Passport BMW in Marlow Heights, MD - best prices in the area; excellent CAs; decent customer service; service department is one of the best in the area although not everyone has good experience with them

2 - BMW of Sterling in VA - second-best prices in the area; excellent customer service; excellent service department; all-around a very good place to go

3 - VOB BMW in Rockville, MD - pricing is average for this area and not as good as the top 2 above despite it being the highest volume dealer in the area and one of the highest volume dealers in the country; good customer service; service department generally has a bad rep, although several seem happy with them

4 - MileOne Tischer Auto Park in Silver Spring, MD - pricing is average for this area; service department is hit or miss; customer service and CAs can be hit or miss, too

5 - BMW of Arlington in VA - generally more expensive than the others; service department used to be the absolute best in the area back in the day but quality may have gone downhill; customer service not great

6 - BMW of Fairfax in VA - reputation for being expensive; service department has more misses than hits, although they're building a new service area and maybe things will improve; customer service is average to below average

I hope this doesn't get me blacklisted by any of these dealers and I hope it is okay to post something like this here. To be clear, the above is not based on any of my own experience, so take it with a giant grain of salt. But this is what I see when I condense all I have read about the local dealers.

Bottom line - buy from either Passport BMW or BMW of Sterling. I bought from Passport and am pleased I did.

As an aside, I have seen a few positive reviews of some other local dealers, but not enough to form a "consensus" opinion. BMW of Towson in MD and Tate BMW in Annapolis, MD have some positive reviews online.

+1
.......have only bought from Sterling, but the others have the exact reputation you describe and I have felt it first hand. If I had to buy locally again, I would go to Passport from now on.

[HeadlessChicken]

Originally Posted by HeadlessChicken

I am getting my break-in oil change at 3200 miles tomorrow at Sterling. I requested Jim Eddy as recommended by an earlier poster. I will update this with my impressions. I would of course prefer to go back to Passport, but they are just too far away.

Everything went well with the service. Jim Eddy did a good job. he advised me that they would also install new wiper blades free of charge. They also washed the car. The oil change (@3,000 miles so on my dollar) was $118. The only problem was that they were rather slow (about 1.5 hours). The lounge area is fairly nice and they have a free hotspot for your laptop. I didn't have mine but would bring it next time. I waited, but it appears from the signs that if you need a loaner you get a BMW if you bought from Sterling otherwise you get something from Enterprize. In general, they did a good job.

[liverpool]

I just got my 335i sedan from Fairfax a few days ago, and I can tell you I will NEVER EVER go back there again. It was one of the worst car buying experiences of my life. I don't want to get into details here, but happy to talk to others off-forum if desired. They are the most disingenous of any dealers. Tischer was the most decent and I wish I could have given them my business.

Does anyone know if I can contact BMW and lodge a complaint about a dealer?

[BK]

Originally Posted by liverpool

Does anyone know if I can contact BMW and lodge a complaint about a dealer?

Of course you can. Also note that BMW will be contacting you to ask about your buying experience. If you give the dealer anything but a perfect score, they'll hear about it.

[PocketRocket]

I agree, I didnt give a SA all fives one time, when I brought my car in the next time, I couldnt figure out why the same SA was a little more accomodating. I guess those feedbacks really does make a difference

[iatacs19]

I just ordered a 335i sedan from BOV for $210 over invoice. Everyone had prices within $500 of each other, YES even Fairfax had a decent price: $400 over invoice.

But, buying it is one thing and getting your car worked on is whole another matter...

[yu]

So I took my car in yesterday. My advisor is Charles Barber. So far I'm having a good experience. Since I didn't buy my car from them, I got a rental from Enterprise. They're paying for the first 24 hours, but I had my sister call them up and now I think they're giving me one of their own loaners and they're taking care of another 24 hours I have the rental. I'm going to go back tomorrow to talk to him, but so far so good. I'll keep you guys updated.

[bavarian19]

Originally Posted by sstarch1

Cant imagine how they might treat me being that im 22 yrs old. I always get some shitty treatment b/c of my age. They think that someone as young as me is too stupid to know any different, while they should realise that maybe i might be smarted than the average 22yr old, since i can afford such a car......ah but i digress.

Im in my mid-twenties, and get great treatment from the service staff at Sterling.

I will be looking to do a post break-in oil change sometime soon (Im nearing 1400 miles). I am thinking about taking the car to an independent shop to get the change done. I have a tough time believing that a few quarts of oil and an oil filter cost damn near $100.

I have been thinking about trying this place:

http://www.import-auto-european-car-...-virginia.com/

Has anyone heard about them? They have run a few commercials locally about servicing BMW's. The only reason to consider them is the fact that the OBC does not need to be reset or anything with this oil change. If they work on BMW's regularly, they should have the apprioriate test oil and filters ready to go.

Im not dead set on them, but I really dont want to pay that much just for an oil change...

[bavarian19]

Originally Posted by iatacs19

I just ordered a 335i sedan from BOV for $210 over invoice. Everyone had prices within $500 of each other, YES even Fairfax had a decent price: $400 over invoice.

But, buying it is one thing and getting your car worked on is whole another matter...

335 sedans have been going for relatively cheap almost since they came out. Its the 335 coupes that are on high demand, and they have not come down much off MSRP. As soon as the new M3 is unveiled, Iw ould assume they would start to come down in price.

BTW, the best negotiating I got off the 335 coupe was 1k off MSRP. And that was with a weeks worth of work getting the CA to come down. I ended up ordering a 328 coupe for $500 over invoice (including doc fees). If they were willing to budge on the coupe price, I might have sprung the extra few bucks for it...

[yu]

I got my car back yesterday. Everything looks good. They replaced the instrument cluster and did a system upgrade. My advisor was really nice and I highly recommend him. It also doesn't hurt that the woman at the front desk was pretty hot.

[Scottz71]

Originally Posted by bavarian19

335 sedans have been going for relatively cheap almost since they came out. Its the 335 coupes that are on high demand, and they have not come down much off MSRP. As soon as the new M3 is unveiled, Iw ould assume they would start to come down in price.

BTW, the best negotiating I got off the 335 coupe was 1k off MSRP. And that was with a weeks worth of work getting the CA to come down. I ended up ordering a 328 coupe for $500 over invoice (including doc fees). If they were willing to budge on the coupe price, I might have sprung the extra few bucks for it...

i got my 335i at sterling with PCD for 1% over invoice.